thoughts on the news of the day: ethics

hmmm…..

            Oklahoma uses a sedative called pentobarbital to execute death row inmates.  “This goes against everything we’re in business to do”, claims a spokeswoman for Lundbeck Inc., the manufacturer of the drug.

            I am not sure what the manufacturer plans to do about the dilemma but I am grateful that physicians do promise to uphold certain principles.  The modern oath taken by medical students upon graduation has some beautiful ethical tenets. One says that they will “… tread with care in matters of life and death.  If it is given to me to save a life, all thanks.  But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty.  Above all, I must not play God.”

            A member of our church has a great granddaughter who is days old and is clinging to life. The baby has multiple physical ailments and has already had surgery to alleviate some of the problems. Countless medical procedures face this tiny infant, if she survives.  I am sure that the family has struggled with the issue of letting the baby go.  It’s easy to argue the ethical points of saving lives or not when it’s not your own life at stake; it’s nearly impossible to say goodbye to a tiny one.

            So above all else, we must not play God.  Sometimes it comes down to placing our trust and our decision in the hands of a power much greater, wiser and stronger than ourselves.  Probably some of the time, it’s the only way we get through the day.

            hmmm…..